


Poem: Jack and the Beanstalk

by PhantomSpade



Series: Fairytale Horrors [7]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Blood and Gore, Dark Fairy Tale Elements, Dark Fantasy, Fairy Tale Retellings, Gen, Giants, Magic, Theft, poem
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-14 10:32:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16038677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomSpade/pseuds/PhantomSpade
Summary: Jack was a poor boy who traded his cow for magic beans that grew into a giant beanstalk, which led him to the giant's home above. When he stole the goose that laid golden eggs and a magic harp, the giant attempted to eat him, but with quick feet and an axe to the stalk, Jack was able to kill the giant and live a rich life.But is that how it really went?





	Poem: Jack and the Beanstalk

**Author's Note:**

> Jack and the Beanstalk (c) Benjamin Talbert

A boy who lived in poverty.  
Jack was his name.  
He and his mother, barely  
any food to their name,  
their cow was dry of milk. 

One day, Mother gave him  
an important task:  
"Go to the market and  
bargain our cow for a few coins.  
Do not bring anything foolish."

And so he went, cow in tow.  
The cow, a thin frail twig  
with little milk inside  
her wrinkled udder.  
Such a sad sight she was. 

On the path to the market,  
along came a man dressed  
in exotic robes and an air  
so mysterious as he was.  
He stopped Jack in his path. 

"Pardon me, young boy.  
If you are giving away  
that cow you have there,  
then I have something  
that will be worth your time."

Jack thought it was money.  
Instead, in the palm of the  
Merchant's hand, beans of  
different colors and shapes.

"Beans?" Jack was skeptical,  
hesitant. He did not want Mother  
to whip him over beans.  
"Not just beans, young boy.  
These....are magic beans." 

Jack was then curious.  
The Merchant talked up a  
a storm. "I promise you that  
these beans will bring you  
great fortune for you." 

Jack was foolish enough  
to accept the deal. Thus,  
the poor cow was traded  
over a handful of beans. 

With a thanks and a goodbye,  
Jack skipped back to his little  
home, thinking that luck  
was smiling down at him  
from the heavens above. 

The Merchant turned the other way,

A smirk stretched out on his seemly  
kind face, and with a whisper as he  
laid a stroking hand on the thin cow,  
"Yes, they will bring great fortune..."

Jack came home to a wrath  
personified. Mother was red,  
steaming, the beans enduring  
the crushing strength of her fingers. 

"You fool! You have traded our  
only cow for a handful of damn  
beans! I cannot even cook soup  
from these! Your foolishness  
has costed our last chance of living!"

Young eyes didn't look at the  
ones of shaming disappointment.  
"Mother, the man said they're magic.  
They will bring us great fortune if-"

His face was met with a free hand,  
a mark of anger and shame presented  
on his bony little cheek.  
He couldn't stop the tears from falling. 

"The only things these beans will  
bring us is a lifetime of hunger  
and no coins to help us!

I shall punish you for your failure!"

The beans flew out of the window,   
only to land into the soft soil   
that surrounded Jack's quant   
little home as the sound of his   
cries of pain echoed into the night. 

Then a little sprout popped up. 

Morning came, Jack was awake.   
His body, sore and red from   
Mother's merciless wrath.   
His face red from his own tears. 

Then a spectacular sight before   
him: a green stalk so big, it   
grew up overnight until   
it reached to the very heavens. 

Jack had let his curiosity get   
the best of him. The next thing  
he knew, he was latching onto   
the giant stalk, climbing up   
and up, never looking down. 

Jack had reached to the very top.   
A glorious sight before him. A   
castle, grand and large, he   
was but a mouse up close. 

The door was no help: too big,   
a simple knock or two wouldn't   
help. A hole next to it; it was   
just his size. His way inside. 

Everything inside was giant.  
Jack was swallowed whole   
by the giant size of everything   
around him. His wonder grew   
to the size of a giant as well. 

A heavy voice boomed out   
throughout the depths of   
the castle. Jack's ears   
were ringing harshly. 

"Woman! I am famished!   
I need a meal to be satisfied!"   
Then another, more female.  
"If a meal is what you desire,   
then do not be impatient!" 

Jack had reached the kitchen.   
Two people, both of which   
were large in width, large  
in height; they were Giants. 

The man, sitting at a table,   
his stomach a roaring lion.   
The woman, his Wife, manning   
the stove, preparing to cook. 

Jack snuck in, like a mouse.   
He saw, in the cupboards above:   
little human beings like him  
encased in giant jars, helpless. 

The Wife took one little man.   
She went to work; Jack was sick.   
The skin was peeled, limbs were  
sliced with atmost care, fingers  
grinded the body until the bones   
have broken and turned to mush. 

Her fingers were dyed with his blood.   
The screams of pain were music  
to her and the Giant's ears.   
His kind were their food. 

Jack moved to the table.   
The Giant had a few jars by   
his side, a giant goose and   
a beautiful golden harp on   
the other. Jack's eye was caught. 

The Giant took a human out.   
A big little bite. The head was   
gone, the bony neck with torn   
flesh was presented in its place.   
The Giant gobbled the rest down. 

A big hand stroked the pristine   
white feathers of the goose.   
A big honk, an egg popped beneath   
it; it was gold, so rich and large. 

Another big hand, the Giant's   
fingers toyed with the strings   
of the harp, releasing a beautiful   
melody in spite of it's discomfort. 

Jack was focused on the treasures.  
He had ignored the anguished   
cries dying from the Wife's   
hands as he climbed up the leg. 

The Giant roared again.   
"Woman! Where is my meal?"  
The Wife, plate in hand,   
plopped it in front of him.   
A canopy of human flesh and blood. 

The Wife stomped away,   
the Giant gobbled away.  
Jack decided to wait,   
wait until he was safe. 

Not too soon, the Giant  
lulled himself to sleep,  
his stomach full, his   
mouth tainted with the   
remains of human. 

Jack had went to work.   
He reached to the surface,   
quick yet quiet as a mouse.   
He took the golden harp,   
then he took the goose. 

Alas, a honk and a melody   
had woken the Giant up.   
"Who dares disturb me?   
A little boy? I shall grind   
your bones to make my bread!" 

A hand reached Jack. Jack ran,   
the goose became his horse   
as they raced down to the exit,   
a Giant full of wrath on his tail. 

Jack reached the stalk; with   
the goose, he fluttered down   
back to the ground he was born.   
The Giant began to descend down. 

An axe laid nearby. Jack took it  
by hand. The blade met with   
the stiffness of the stalk.   
One chop, two chops, three chops. 

The Giant kept on climbing down,   
seeing the ground coming closer.   
Another swing, and another,   
and another. The chunk of the   
stalk was soon eaten by the axe. 

It swayed forward. The Giant stopped.   
Jack abandoned the goose and harp,   
ran into his house as the stalk fell.   
"Mother! Please wake up!   
We must leave immediately or-!"

Alas, his cry was cut short. Soon,   
the Giant met his end at the ground   
and Jack's house. A giant red smear  
seeped beneath the Giant.   
It was of his blood, Jack's, and Mother's. 

In the end, the magic beans did   
grant great fortune.   
A fortune of death.


End file.
